Amp Up Your Class with the Powerful Strategy of Collaborative Classroom Projects

Have you seen collaborative classroom projects in action?

Imagine it: an observer peaks into your class and sees students busily engaged in a variety of activities. In one part of the room a group of students are discussing the plot arc and determining the mood changes of a chapter. Another group is putting together a slideshow presentation and brainstorming engagement strategies. In yet another part of the room the observer sees a group sifting through their books to gather textual evidence. As the observer marvels at how engaged all the students are, two students move to the whiteboard and get the attention of the class. The two proceed to check in with each group as they refer to a to-do list on the board.

This scenario is not just a fictional dream, it is an example of what is possible when students are given a whole-class project. In a whole-class project, the entire class receives one set of tasks to complete. The teacher plays a supporting role to provide feedback and suggestions, acts as a mediator, and guides students in problem solving.

The benefits are numerous. With whole-class projects teachers encourage a high level of collaboration and give multiple avenues for creativity. Tasks are naturally and authentically differentiated and provide opportunities for support that deepen teacher-student relationships. Perhaps the most important benefit, though, is the shared sense of accomplishment gained from the entire class working towards and successfully completing a shared goal.

The Importance of Collaboration

One of the skills most often cited by employers is the need for employees to be able to work in a team. Recognizing strengths and weaknesses and learning how to draw on those is so important in today’s society.

How many times have you given a group assignment and noticed that one or more members are absently chatting, pulling out homework for another class, or going to grab their phones? When you check in to ask why they are not working they say that they completed their part. Ugh. So frustrating.

Regardless of whether or not the work was supposed to be split, I’ve found that this is the way students approach group work. Understanding that oftentimes to truly work as a group, the tasks do not end until the project is complete.

Students need scenarios where they are invested in finding ways to contribute after they have completed a single task. In the workforce, efficiency is rewarded, but so is the attitude of providing unanticipated value to a team. As people, students need opportunities to laterally lead, to follow, and to look at situations and determine where they can contribute without being told. They also need to develop skills that may not show up in our pacing guides–skills of communication, teamwork, and compromise. Whole-class projects give students an opportunity to develop and hone these skills, and they provide natural space for teachers to support students to further develop the attributes their future employers will appreciate.

Fostering Creativity and Innovation with Collaborative Classroom Projects

A whole-class project encourages students to pool ideas, perspectives, and talents. When I assign a whole-class activity, I always include creative pieces. For instance, students might be tasked with creating a graphic novel series that speaks to teenagers that helps students understand the lives of the Anglo-Saxons for students reading Beowulf.

Or, students may be designing a themed restaurant for Fahrenheit 451. Asking students to create these kinds of products requires students to think abstractly, make critical decisions, and use artistic skills.

Throughout these projects I am continually surprised and delighted by how they are able to come up with interesting and unique ideas as a result of their genuine collaborative efforts. Since I ask students to create from square one, they go through an entire ideation process of generating, reading, and implementing ideas. There are multiple ways to get to a finished product.  I find that classes complete very different products as a result of the unique skills and personalities in the room. The whole-group process fosters critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and leads to creative and innovative products.

Collaborative Classroom Projects Develop a Sense of Community

The student that doodles throughout class now has an important role to play in completing the class product. When I implemented a whole-class activity recently, a student who spent much of the last unit unengaged was chosen by his classmates because they knew he was an artist. Once he was called on, he had to work together with his peers to understand and translate pieces of The Great Gatsby into theme park rides. In previous units he was a liability to the group, but now was an important and integral team member.

I read recently that the best ice breakers are ones that encourage creating a shared experience. So, something like creating a handshake or a class cheer works better for building class community than simply sharing a favorite place or how many siblings they have. Whole-class projects give students a common goal that they are all working towards.

Let’s face it–students don’t always understand why high school English assignments are important.

Students may complete assignments simply as a means to get a grade. I find that 99 percent of the time students are more engaged than they otherwise might be when working on collaborative classroom projects because they are not just doing what they perceive as checking boxes for themselves, but working for the collective of their class.

See New Qualities in Your Students

A highlight of a recent whole-class project was when a student who did not previously demonstrate these traits emerged as a class leader and facilitator. As a new teacher, I was given the advice to go to students’ games, to see their play performances, and attend concerts. The reasoning is that this gives teachers the opportunity to see students in the activities that they choose, and in some cases see them excel in ways that one might not see in the day-to-day activities of the classroom.

I think this is great advice and I have seen the benefits of this kind of approach to relationship-building. Similarly, like my student who showed me the leadership skills I had not yet seen, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see new skills emerge in students when given collaborative classroom projects.

Collaborative classroom projects foster a positive environment. Students strengthen relationships and work together in new ways, and because there is not an expectation that students work “the same” it promotes inclusivity. Because work is shared and open, students understand the strengths and weaknesses of one another in new and different ways. 

Enhanced Learning and Engagement in Collaborative Classroom Curriculum

Hopefully, I’ve sold you on the benefits. Now you’re wondering, okay…so how exactly does this work?

Suggested Steps to Follow:

• Provide students with a Project-Based Learning scenario with the final products that the students are expected to complete. I find that asking students to create a pitch works really well and requires them to work together to explain their products and the reasoning behind their design choices. 
• Review the rubric. I like to give the class a single grade (everyone receives the same grade) and I make participation (everyone remaining productive and off their phones) part of the rubric criteria. I’ve found that students don’t need as much encouragement to stay on task in whole-class projects in general, but the participation and singular grade contribute to the success of the class.
• Get students going on initial organizing. I’ve found that it works best to have one to three overall managers, which I label CEOs (to distinguish them from managers, described later). In most cases, students will either nominate themselves or students will elect their peers. I’ve been surprised how little guidance they need in choosing who will best organize them. They have not always chosen who would be my top picks, but I think it’s important to go with who the class chooses. This is what leads to some of my most interesting revelations as a teacher because sometimes students show leadership skills I was previously unaware of.
• Provide materials(?) I always give students options on how they complete their final project. One option is always digital, so I personally do not always provide physical materials. But if you have a class maker space, this would be a great opportunity to use it.
• Give suggestions to CEOs about how to organize the class. I review the project criteria with them and give suggestions for how to organize the class and what steps to take. I always highly encourage that each group have a manager or lead that the CEOs check in with regularly. Get the toolkit of material I share with my students here.
• Each day, provide time for CEOs to meet at the beginning and end of work time to review what needs to be done during the session, what needs to happen in the next session, and if applicable, what needs to happen for homework in order to complete the project in time.
• Throughout the project, conduct time checks  with CEOs and groups to determine progress.  Problem-solve with CEOs, if necessary. 
• On completion day, sit back and listen to presentations. Grade as you listen, and put the grade in the gradebook after the presentation is over. 

Collaborative Classroom Curriculum Alignment

How do these collaborative classroom projects align to the curriculum? So many ways! Examples I provided above give some choices, but I think providing context for a novel study unit or as a summative for a novel study unit work very well. As context, since the whole class is working together they are able to cover a lot of concepts.

Students could create a chain of themed restaurants that are inspired by a literary period as a unit summative for a whole-class novel unit or an adapted version where students develop restaurants based on research done on the lives of Romantic poets which could be done to build context for the reading of Frankenstein, for instance. The immersive and appealing nature of these projects encourage students to deeply engage with the content and practice persuasive and informative writing skills, research, and literary analysis.

Collaborative classroom projects also encourage interdisciplinary connections. By including research for context, students can deepen their understanding of historical moments, and many projects can easily be developed into a marketing plan or business proposal which could lead to connections with Entrepreneurship and Accounting and Finance.

Practical Consideration and Implementation Tips

A factor to the success of this approach is the open-ended nature to how students accomplish the task. This can be confusing and frustrating to some students. I’ve found that it’s best to be flexible and differentiate, just as you would do in other situations.

Some students (and classes) will need more guidance and support. I think it’s appropriate to let students struggle and problem-solve in collaborative classroom projects, but not to flounder. If I see the class struggling I will first provide suggestions to CEOs, and if that doesn’t work I will provide guidance directly to the class.

Throughout the process I am available to be a sounding board and answer questions about the project or the text they are connecting. 

It is important to establish clear roles and expectations for participation. Any problems I foresee with groupings or roles I work with CEOs to resolve. I give the class general suggestions as they organize themselves: reminders that groups of friends may not lead to productivity and that they should create groups in a way that leads to strong products. When given this direction students often right themselves.

Anticipate Potential Pitfalls

While I have found these collaborative classroom projects are often the highlights of my year, there is potential to run into pitfalls. Despite incentive and encouragement, sometimes some students will not engage with the rest of the class. In these cases I will give students a warning and remove them from the overall class grade if their engagement does not improve.

Another potential issue is students are too honest with one another and they make students feel like they are not trusted to participate. In these cases, a reminder of class norms is helpful, and also encourages the groups to be more active in bringing out the strengths of all students in the group.

Collaborative classroom projects lead to big wins. When you engage your students to achieve a common goal you’ll find deeper engagement, strengthened peer and student-teacher relationships, and an overall positive and collaborative classroom environment.

Additional Resources

• I talked about this strategy on the Brave New Teaching podcast! Listen to the episode here.
• Check out another example of Collaborative Classroom Projects here!
• When I started a podcast I revamped my podcast project and turned it into a collaborative classroom project. Get access to my secret podcast (so meta!) about it here.